West Texas A&M University seeks to reduce out-of-state tuition

West Texas A&M University officials are planning to give many out-of-state students a tuition break later this year.

Pending approval from the Texas A&M University System’s Board of Regents, the university will reduce the tuition rate for out-of-state students to close to the same tuition as in-state students for the fall 2012 semester.

The measure would extend to all out-of-state students a program that allows undergraduate students from Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma to pay $30 more per credit-hour in tuition than Texas residents. Out-of-state students not from those four states pay $363 per semester credit hour, more than twice the $152 Texas residents pay.

“We’ve extended this lower tuition for years to the border states,” said Dan Garcia, vice president of enrollment management.

“We want to grow enrollment. We’ve seen our enrollment from outside the Panhandle go up significantly over the past several years, and we’ve got to go beyond the border states to attract more students.”

Of the 7,886 students enrolled at the university last fall, 664 came from outside Texas, school figures show.

About one-third, or 225, of WT’s out-of-state students are from outside the four border states.

The university began talking about reducing tuition to all out-of-state students about six months ago, Garcia said. Texas A&M regents are slated to vote on the measure next month, he said.

The university also wants to reduce the tuition rate for diversity, Garcia said.

“By bringing in a kid from New York or Washington state, we’re giving (Texas students) an opportunity to get to know students from other states,” he said. “We think that adds to the diversity of experience our students have.”

Addie Davis, a junior agricultural media and communications major from Vashon Island, Wash, said she chose to attend WT because of the university’s equine and agricultural program.

“(The reduction) makes it more accessible for out-of-state students ... because a lot of people I know that are from out of state that wanted to come to WT couldn’t afford it,” said Davis, who is on the horse judging and equestrian teams. “It will be very helpful in increasing the student population. I think it’s a good thing.”

Garcia said the anticipated enrollment increase would outweigh any revenue loss.

Students from outside Texas and the border states each spend an estimated $16,000 per year to attend WT, Garcia said. The reduced tuition this fall would cut that to roughly $7,400 per year, he said.

Garcia said the reduced tuition rate will apply to future and current out-of-state students. Under state law, international students won’t qualify for the reduction, he said.

WT officials have yet to decide what tuition will be this coming fall.

Gary Barnes, WT’s vice president of business and finance, said Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp has yet to give the system’s schools any direction on tuition.

“I expect we’ll have something within the next couple of weeks,” he said.